Okazaki on target again for Mainz

SINSHEIM, GERMANY – Japan international Shinji Okazaki bagged his fourth brace of the season Saturday in Mainz’s 4-2 come-from-behind win at Hoffenheim.

With the game even at two goals apiece, Okazaki struck his first in the 75th minute to give Mainz the lead before closing the scoring in the second minute of injury time.

Okazaki, who scored for the first time since Jan. 25, has 11 goals in the campaign. Mainz is fifth in the Bundesliga table and will host leaders Bayern Munich next weekend.

“I was just thinking about scoring today so it was great to be able to do that,” Okazaki said. “At the end of the day, I’m judged on how many goals I score.

“But we’ve got Bayern next. I’m not sure how, but we’ve managed to be in fifth place so hopefully we can build on this. Against Bayern, you concede one and it’s over so we’ve got to do much better than we did today.”